Irish Culture & Customs Resources
In this section I share articles on Irish music, dancing, poetry, writing, story-telling and history. Many of the topics that we consider to be quite unique in our shared Irish heritage.
Browse the features listed on this page and jump to one that interests you, or enter a placename, surname or other item in the search box below to see related letters and podcasts.
Irish Culture & Customs Letters
Have you ever had something in your possession that you are minding for future generations? Perhaps a ring, a piece of jewellery a book or a piece of furniture? Here, in Ireland, we often tend to pass down baby christening robes through several generations. Our grandson was recently christened in a robe that was also used by his father and his grandmother – both standing proudly beside him!
The month of May, or as we call it in Irish “Bealtaine” (pronounced “ba-yowl tanna”) heralds the start of our Irish Summer.
This is a list of popular books that are mentioned many times in our Green Room Book Club.
The books listed cover the topics of Irish history, The famine, colourful country life, letters, Irish cooking, fictional genealogy, murder mysteries and Celtic spirituality. Something for everyone!
A somewhat contentious question for this week. Does the Irish shamrock best represent Ireland – or is there another contender? This question was on the mind of our guest contributor for this week – Simon O’Flynn, who recently retired from his Butcher’s shop after 68 years in the business. Simon often shares a story or…
This week sees the celebration of Saint Patrick’s day here in Ireland and in many places with a strong Irish connection around the world. Maybe you will attend a Saint Patrick’s day parade or celebration in your own part of the world? I thought it would be fun to take you on a tour today…
Irish Culture & Customs Podcasts
As we approach Easter here in Ireland, the thoughts of many Irish people turn to the historic events around the Easter Rising of 1916. In this episode we talk about that time as well as another Irish leader who was killed 100 years ago this year. We also feature Irish rebel songs commemorating many of…
In today’s episode of the Letter from Ireland podcast, we take a trip up along the St. Lawrence River in Canada with two stories linked to that part of the world. First, we stop off at Grosse Île just outside Quebec City and then we hear the story of two musical sisters and their Irish-descended…
Here in Ireland we are getting ready to fill in the population census for 2022. We use this opportunity to chat about the census down through the years and it’s usefulness to genealogists and family historians. Carina also reads a letter all about an unusual question that the population were asked before the 1911 census…
This is a musical episode (with a running commentary) of the Letter from Ireland show. Over 10 tracks, Mike takes you through an Irish musical journey that shaped his growing awareness and appreciation of the Irish music that surrounded him. As he plays the tracks, he chats about Irish history, surname, culture and much more.…
In this special episode we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! The parades and celebrations are returning in Ireland after a 2 year absence. Along with some very appropriate music, we chat about the first and sur-names that have come into being in honour of the Saint. We then go on to ask you “what do you…